


When you need a Superfriend

by Nach0



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alya Césaire Bashing, Bcse that's all I really know about DC, But practically nothing else from DC, Gen, Have some water on hand, I need the Chloe sugar, I'm making this super salty, I've been wanting to do this for a while, Lila Rossi Bashing, Master Fu just got too old, Miracle Queen never happened, So Supergirl from Arrowverse, Theres so much MariBat, Tom and Sabine bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24734737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nach0/pseuds/Nach0
Summary: When Tom and Sabine believe Lila's lies, they send Marinette off to live with an old family friend in National City. When living with a government agent and a psychologist, how long is it until she gets figured out?
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Chloé Bourgeois & Kagami Tsurugi, Chloé Bourgeois & Luka Couffaine, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Comments: 54
Kudos: 353





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So there's a lot of MariBat, but all I know is either from the Injustice comics or fics. So I decided, why not write about a fandom I _actually_ know? So I present:  
> Salt: The Fic
> 
> Also: _This_ is for inner thoughts or for emphasis, and **_this_** is for something being spoken in the non-dominant language, in this case English. In the future it will be used for French, but I'll always give you a heads up at the start of each chapter it is used in!  
> :)

“I don’t understand! Why are you sending me away?”  
Marinette looked up at her parents in disbelief. They had just told her that she was going to be sent to live with a family friend. In America! Sure, she could speak fairly good English, but it still didn’t make sense!  
“Your recent behaviour has led us to think that the change could be good for you. Kelly and her girlfriend Alex are lovely people, and they might be better equipped to deal with you than we are.”  
As her mother spoke, Marinette felt a bitterness rise in her. Of course. _Lila._ She had made good on her threat, managing to turn even her parents against her. Claiming that she was involved in a gang, she had an older boyfriend, she did drugs, the list went on. And when Tom and Sabine had caught Marinette out past curfew one too many times, they took it as the truth. She couldn’t tell them that she was Ladybug, so all she had was half-hearted excuses. Still, she needed a way to stay in Paris, as she couldn’t be Ladybug somewhere else, and if there was no Ladybug, there was no-one to catch the akuma, and no-one to cast the cure, never mind all her guardian duties…  
She was getting off track. She had a goal and she needed to accomplish it. Just like taking down an akuma. Except she couldn’t hit this problem really hard for it to go away.  
“Is there any way I could stay in Paris? I’ll switch schools, I’ll go live with grandpa Roland, I’ll do anything!”  
Tom and Sabine exchanged a look. They didn’t want to believe it, but they had to make sure.  
“Honey, calm down, aren’t you worried about an akuma?”  
Marinette started pacing as she rambled, mostly to herself.  
“Right, I’ll get upset, then you guys will get mad at me, and then one or both of you will be akumatised and then I’ll have that whole mess to deal with.”  
Tom reached out a hand to her shoulder to stop her pacing.  
“You aren’t worried about _you_ getting akumatised?”  
Marinette shook her head.  
“No no, I’ll be fine.”  
A slight push from her bag and the looks from her parents made her backtrack.  
“I mean, I’m really good at calming down before they get to me, I mean, it’s worked so far right?”  
She let out a nervous chuckle while her parents stared at her.  
“Marinette… Are you working with Hawkmoth?”  
Marinette looked for the start of a smile from her mum, the laughter in her dad’s eyes, anything to say they were joking. When the just kept staring she burst into laughter.  
“Haha, you guys… You guys really thought… Haha, that’s hilarious!”  
Her parents failed to see the humour and gave her _that_ look.  
“Remember all those times I’ve been attacked? Reflekta, Horificator, pretty much any akuma that clones or traps people I’ve gotten tangled up in.”  
Not technically a lie, she never said she got _hit_ specifically, but she definitely got attacked.  
“Well, maybe you should get out of Paris anyway. It’s clearly not safe here, and maybe it’s best for you to leave. You’ll like it in National City, they even have their own superheros!”  
_Great. A reminder of what I have to give up because of Lila._ She was about to keep protesting, but she felt three quick pushed on her side by Tikki. _We need to talk._ Her argument died on her tongue and she sighed.  
“When am I meant to leave?”  
Her parents exchanged relived looks.  
“The plane is booked for next Friday. That gives you about a week to pack up. We could mail over a box with all of your sewing things once you get settled, if Kelly and Alex are ok with it of course.”  
Marinette fought the eyebrow that was threating to raise. _A week? I was hoping for some more time to test and train a new guardian,_ and _a new holder for Tikki._ It would be a rush, and there weren’t many people she trusted anymore. Still, there was work to be done, so she had to get started.  
“I guess I’ll go start packing then. Can I be un-grounded so I can spend my final week saying goodbye and sorting things out?”  
Her parents nodded, glad she was taking this so well.  
“Of course honey, just not tonight ok? It’s getting rather late.”  
Marinette nodded and ran up to her room, shutting the trapdoor quickly. She went up onto her bed and starting crying into her pillow, feeling the weight of all the kwami comforting her. Eventually she rolled on to her back, drying her tears.  
“I’m sorry Tikki, you said you wanted to talk?”  
She looked at her expectantly. Marinette already knew what Tikki wanted. She needed to find a new wielder and Guardian, and she shouldn’t have been putting it off, but sometimes it felt good to cry. Tikki came to settle on her lap and patted her leg comfortingly.  
“Marinette I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t have to give up being Ladybug _or_ being Guardian. So you better stop that train of thought right now missy.”  
Marinette sat up, blinking. How could she… _Oh._  
“I’m an idiot.”  
Tikki giggled while she flew up and booped her nose, while Kaalki sniffed from the corner.  
“I can’t believe you forgot about me Guardian. You’ve given me out before!”  
Marinette giggled at the kwami’s haughty attitude.  
“Sorry Kaalki, I got a bit too emotional to think clearly.”  
Kaalki just grabbed a sugar cube with a huff and flew off. Marinette climbed off her bed and grabbed her bright pink suitcase.  
“So who wants to help me pack?”

~~<3~~

Chloe, Kagami, Luka and Marinette were all sitting at a table at a café during their lunch break. Luka had graduated already, so he was usually free to hang out. Chloe had come up to Marinette not too long after Lila’s takeover with an _apology._ Marinette had been wary at first, but Chloe was actually really nice when she wasn’t putting up an act. She had soon proven herself and had been given another chance at being a hero, under the new name Honeybee. Kagami had approached her after Adrien had asked for advice on the Lila situation. She had hated his passive approach, and when she had tried to talk to him about it, he just refused her help, ignoring the fact that _he_ had asked for _her_ help. Kagami had come to offer her help, and they become friends soon after. She had re-claimed the dragon, under the new name Tempête. Luka had heard Lila’s heart song and immediately knew that was someone that he didn’t want to hang around. He had tried warning Juleka and the rest of Kitty Section, but Lila had told them that having an older singer wasn’t a good look. He had been kicked out, and Marinette had been there to comfort him with pastries and musicals. After she had introduced everyone to each other, they had become a tightly knit group. So, as one could imagine, they weren’t taking this well.  
“They gave you a _week_? That’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”  
Kagami made a noise of displeasure as well.  
“Sending you to America seems a bit extreme, what reason did they give again?”  
Marinette scoffed.  
“My ‘recent behaviour’ or something like that. Also known as, Lila. Oh, that’s not even the best part.”  
Marinette gave out a dry chuckle and everyone looked on in interest.  
“Apparently, I’m working with Hawkmoth.”  
Luka plucked a string on his guitar, sending out a loud note. Chloe just stared in disbelief, and Kagami made for her foil.  
“I’m going to run them through with my sword.”  
Kagami gripped it tightly, ready to get up and make good on her threat, but Marinette grabbed it from her, unbothered by the fencer’s unimpressed glare.  
“No-one is stabbing _anyone._ I don’t really have a choice, so I just have to suck it up and deal with it. Besides, it could be good to get away from Lila.”  
Chloe was the first to get up to give her a hug, followed by Luka, and then by Kagami, who Marinette wasn’t completely sure that she wasn’t just trying to get her sword back.  
“It’ll be ok guys, we can still video chat through Skype or something. I won’t be able to text, because I’ll be on an American phone plan, but we can figure something out!”  
Chloe pulled away and took out her phone, tapping away immediately.  
“I’m going to get you an amazing phone plan, with unlimited overseas. Same for the rest of you. That way, we can all talk and not worry about the fact that there’ll be an ocean dividing us.”  
Marinette slowly took the phone and added it to her slowly growing pile, pointedly ignoring the glare Chloe shot her.  
“I’m sure there are other, _free_ , ways to contact each other. I think there’s an online service, what’s the name in English? _**Chaos**_ or something like that?”  
Luka strummed at his guitar in thought before pulling up an app on his phone.  
“Is this the one you were thinking of?”  
He had opened Discord, in dark mode of course, and had his profile open.  
“Yeah, that’s the one! We can talk on there, and it has the bonus of being accessible from computers! So, no reason to go overboard, _ok_ Chloe?”  
Chloe humped and opened up the app store, downloading Discord. Kagami noticed what she was doing and mirrored her. They all took a few minutes to make accounts and become friends, before Luka, the one with the most experience, had set up a server for them all. Quickly choosing nicknames, Marinette pocketed her phone with a grin.  
“Now that that’s done, anyone want to come help me pick some things to take?”

~~<3~~

It felt like the week passed quickly, lessons passing by in a blur. She didn’t pay much attention, just enough to keep Mrs Bustier satisfied. She didn’t bother alerting anyone in the class (outside of Chloe) that she was leaving, ignoring their taunts and insults. Chloe and Kagami had been big helps in learning how to ignore them, so now they rolled off her like water on a duck. She made sure not to bring anything valuable, most of her stuff was in a suitcase anyway. On her final day, she only had her schoolbooks, the school assigned tablet, and three neatly wrapped gifts. As she was packing up to go meet her friends for a final goodbye, she was stopped by Alya.  
“I need you to make a dress for the upcoming school dance.”  
Marinette briefly noted that this was a demand, rather than a request, but she just started her usual commission speech with a sigh.  
“Depending on the materials used and the time it takes to make, the dress could cost anywhere from €300 to €500. There will also be shipping costs, plus the fact I’m not taking commissions right now, so it will probably be a few weeks before I might be able to get started on it.”  
Alya was staring at Marinette like she had grown another head.  
“€300, what are you talking about? I’m not paying _you_ for a dress, and you make mine every year, so what’s the problem? I can’t wait a few weeks, the dance is next weekend!”  
Marinette sighed and pushed past the taller girl.  
“The problem is that I don’t have time, materials are expensive, and I made you those dresses when we were friends. But we’re not now. So, leave me alone. Goodbye Alya.”  
She walked out to meet her friends, leaving Alya behind, too stunned to talk. When she snapped out of it, she grumbled to herself.  
“She’ll see reason on Monday. She has no right to refuse after all she’s done to Lila! Maybe if she makes Lila’s dress too, she’ll forgive her! Lila’s nice like that, Marinette will come around after making up for everything she’s done!”  
Alya walked away, satisfied, planning her new dress in her mind.

Marinette ran up to her friends, engulfing them in hugs. They all hugged right back, sad to see her go. Marinette suddenly pulled away from the hug, and grabbed three parcels out of her bag. She handed them all out, urging them to open them. Luka opened his first, finding a beanie that perfectly matched his hair, with a teal snake pattern around the rim. Chloe went next, her patience not holding any longer. She got a headband with tiny bees embroidered all along it. Kagami received a red handkerchief, with an elemental dragon on one side, and a storm cloud on the other, a lightning strike going all the way across. They all started to thank her at once, with Marinette just blushing sheepishly.  
“I just took note of all your favourite heroes, and added them to a design. It’s not that big of a deal.”  
They all hugged again, before the clock chimed behind them, making Marinette jump.  
“I have to go! I’ll send you all a message when I land, but you better not stay up for it if it’s late here!”  
A chorus of “No promises!” filled her ears as she ran home, taking in the sights one more time. She burst into the bakery to find her mum still working the counter, and her dad busy baking. Not thinking much of it, she went up to her room to grab her belongings. After some quick cuddles from the kwami, she had everything she needed. Most flew into the suitcase, comfy in the hidden area Marinette had made, lined with a soft faux fur. Only Tikki and Kaalki flew into her jacket, ready to transform if need be. They had assured her they wouldn’t show up on the x-ray, so she was fine with having them in there. As she lifted her suitcase and went downstairs, her strength from being Ladybug shining through, she was surprised to see her parents still busy at work.  
“Maman, Papa, I thought we were going to the airport now?”  
Her parent’s exchanged looks before Tom stopped his baking and walked over.  
“Honey, we can’t afford to come with you, we need to keep the bakery open. There’s an Uber outside for you, but you’ll have to go on your own. I’m sorry.”  
He pulled her into a hug, one she half-heartedly returned. She walked over to hug her mum as well, and went outside with her suitcase.  
This was it.  
She was really being sent away.  
All because of some dumb liar.  
With a comforting press coming from inside her jacket, she got in the Uber, prepared to start her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, Alex and Kelly meet.  
> Kelly and Alex are worried, Marinette is messing with Brainy and Supergirl

Going through security was annoying at best, a pain at worst. Despite the fact the horse miraculous was made of magic and not metal, Marinette still had to take them off to go through the metal detectors. She had to put up a bit of a fight to be allowed to carry the oat cookies that she had made on board, as they were the only food both Tikki and Kaalki liked. After the security decided that _no_ , the cookies _weren’t_ a bomb, she was allowed to continue on. After _finally_ getting through, she still had an hour to spare, so she snuck some cookies to the kwami and ate some airport food. Remembering last minute to exchange her money, she was able to make it to the plane on time. She had even managed to use some of her MDC savings to upgrade to first class so she could have a cut off area, free for the kwami to float around. After two movies and a nap, she had landed in National City Airport. After getting her luggage, she went outside to find Kelly and Alex. Her parents had never told her what they looked like, so she was really hoping they had a sign or something. She stood a little awkwardly, peering out at the crowd. She locked eyes with someone in the crowd and they started making their way over to her. They didn’t _look_ particularly threatening, but you could never be too careful. She was watching them when she felt a hand on her shoulder. On instinct, she grabbed it, ducking low and using her momentum to flip the person over the top of her. Years of fighting akumas that were bigger than her taught her to use her size to her advantage. As she realised what happened, she was quick to offer a hand to the poor person who was on the floor, blinking up at her.  
“I’m so sorry, I reacted out of instinct, are you ok?”  
Still shocked, the person on the floor took her hand and pulled herself up. She didn’t seem to be hurt, mostly shocked.  
“I’m fine, what sort of stuff did you get up to back in Paris? Your mum said you were involved in some shit, but wow…”  
The person Marinette had been watching had finally caught up to them, and was now swatting the other person on the arm.  
“Alex! Language!”  
Marinette reasoned that this must be Kelly, and immediately felt so much worse. Before she could start another round of apologies, Kelly cut her off.  
“Hi Marinette, I’m Kelly! Sorry about the scare, but we should probably get going. Security doesn’t like people hanging around, and they’re already a little suspicious. Do you want me to take your bag?”  
Marinette just shook her head, already embarrassed from their disaster of a first encounter. She carried her bag to their car, lifting it in the boot with ease. She was uncomfortably aware of the looks that Kelly and Alex exchanged before she felt the energy of a kwami phasing into her pocket. Slipping her hand in, she gave the kwami, who turned out to be Mullo, some pats, calming down. As guardian, the kwami were all in tune with her emotions, and her theirs, and they knew when to comfort her. Mullo and Tikki came the most often, as they were the two she’d formed a stronger bond with. Tikki was the strongest, but after transforming into Multimouse a few times, they had the second closest. Multimouse… As she got in the car, she got an idea. Maybe she could make the most of her time here.

~~<3~~

As Marinette went to get settled in her room, Alex and Kelly exchanged looks. _We need to talk._ Alex sat on the couch while Kelly made them both tea. She got another mug out for Marinette, but decided to go and see if she wanted any first. As she went over to the spare room, she could hear Marinette talking with someone.  
“-and I flipped her! She only grabbed my shoulder and I flipped her! I’m so embarrassed! Now they think I was _actually_ in a gang or something!”  
Part of Kelly wanted to listen to the rest of the conversation, but she didn’t want to invade the girl’s privacy. She knocked on the door, hearing a few squeaks of surprise coming from inside. There was a bang, and it sounded like Marinette had crashed into something, before she opened the door.  
“Hello?”  
Kelly thought she saw a blur of red, but decided to come back to that at a later time.  
“I’ve just made tea, do you want any? I know you said you had dinner on the plane, but if you’re still hungry let us know, I think there’s still leftovers in the fridge.”  
Marinette glanced behind herself, then back at Kelly.  
“Thank you for the offer, but I think I’m just going to bed now. I’m sorry again for earlier, and I’ll make it up to you in the morning, but for now I just need to sleep.”  
Kelly nodded, wondering what was so interesting in Marinette’s room.  
“Of course, just don’t stay up too late! Do you need a phone charger, or do you have one already?”  
After confirming that she did have one, Marinette went back into her room, shutting and locking the door. Kelly went back to the lounge where Alex was waiting, and poured the tea into two mugs, putting the third away.  
“She didn’t want to come down?”  
Kelly shook her head, presenting the second mug to Alex and sitting down.  
“She said she was tired. I heard her talking to someone earlier though, she really is embarrassed by what she did earlier.”  
Alex gave a good-natured groan, taking a sip of her tea.  
“Did you go all psychoanalysis on her _already?_ She just got here, give her a chance to settle in first.”  
Kelly was about to respond with another taunt, but got distracted by a flash of purple light from Marinette’s room.  
“Marinette? Are you ok?”  
There was a small squeak of fright coming from Marinette’s room before she answered.  
“I’m fine! Just something on my phone!”  
Kelly knew she was lying, but decided not to push it.  
“Ok, just get some rest!”  
Alex turned to her with a raised eyebrow. After hearing Marinette’s assurances, they waited until her room was quiet again before talking to each other.  
“Something’s up with her.”  
Alex stated it as a fact, rather than a question. Kelly hummed, taking another sip of her drink.  
“Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s like Sabine said. She was talking to someone else, and she was worried that we’d think she was actually in a gang. There’s something else going on, but we have to give it time. She’ll open up to us on her own, and in the meantime, we just have to focus on being there for her. We have the day off tomorrow to sort out schools, so we can talk to her then. She does seem nice, if a little shy, so I hope we can help her.”  
Alex put down her mug and went to lie against Kelly, pulling a blanket with her.  
“How do you always know just what to say?”  
Laughing, Kelly put her own mug down and leaned into the hug.  
“Comes with the job.”  
If either of them had turned on the TV, they would have seen reports of a grey and pink figure running across the rooftops.

~~<3~~

Kara Danvers, also known as Supergirl, was stopping a fire when Brainy’s urgent call came over the coms.  
“Supergirl, we managed to apprehend the person that has been running around tonight. She doesn’t seem hostile, though she did attempt to escape when we first caught her. She’s in the interrogation room at the moment, come as soon as you can.”  
The call ended, leaving Supergirl to try to put out the fire as quickly as possible. The fire department noticed her urgency, and let her go, telling her they had it mostly put out. She flew to the DEO quickly, ready to figure out who this mystery person was. As she landed she saw Brainy, who directed her over to the room. Inside she could see a small girl, though she couldn’t commit many facial features to memory. She was wearing a light grey suit, with pink highlights and black gloves and boots. She had two blue buns in her hair, sitting like ears on top of her head, and she wore a small black and pink necklace. A pink jump rope was off to the side, likely her weapon.  
“She is so _cute!!_ If she’s not a villain, we need her on our side, she’s adorable!”  
Brainy stared at her, while Multimouse rolled her eyes, which went unnoticed by the other two. Probably a good thing, she thought, I’m not meant to be able to hear them from here.  
When they came in to interrogate her, Multimouse was prepared. She was there to let them know she wasn’t a threat, and was going to be helping out, and that was it. She’d answer a few questions, then leave with as little property damage as possible. Still, she could easily break the cuffs, and if they didn’t let her out, she’d have to. It was a little relieving being Multimouse rather than Ladybug, as Multimouse didn’t have the weight of an entire city on her shoulders. If Multimouse lost a fight, the world wouldn’t end, or whatever else Hawkmoth wanted. So, Multimouse would be for National City, and Ladybug would stick to Paris. And Lady Mare would be in between, because she was needed to portal. Marinette cleared her head as Supergirl and the director of the DEO, Brainy according to Supergirl, walked into the room. She could see the excitement on Supergirl’s face, and the intrigue on Brainy’s.  
“Well I suppose I should introduce myself! I am Multimouse, and don’t worry, I am on your side!”  
Supergirl was only just holding back a squeal of excitement, while Brainy was looking sceptical.  
“How do we know that we can trust you? You could just be saying this to escape, so we’re going to need a little more than that.”  
Supergirl gave him a small glare, while Multimouse just smirked.  
“For one, despite there being a _multitude_ of ways for me to escape right now, I’m still here. By the way, I do have to leave soon, I can’t stay out too long tonight. For another, have I done literally anything against you? All I’ve done is run across some rooftops. As far as I’m aware, there’s nothing illegal about that. If there is, then sorry, I don’t know much about the laws here yet.”  
She glanced at the clock on the wall. 12am. If she didn’t want to be too tired for tomorrow, she would have to leave soon. Supergirl followed her gaze, and was startled by the time as well.  
“I get this is suspicious and all, but Sna- my boss, will have my head if I’m late tomorrow. If she causes trouble, I’ll get her myself. But, for now, everything seems to be fine, so could I just go? If there’s a fight I’ll come back, but even Kryptonians need sleep. Please Brainy?”  
Brainy looked at Supergirl’s pleading face, and then at Multimouse’s pout, and relented.  
“Fine! You can go. I’ll talk to you later.”  
Supergirl and Multimouse said thank you at the same time, and Brainy and Supergirl turned to her, noting the mischievous grin on her face.  
You said I could go, so could you undo the cuffs please? They seem pretty fancy, and I don’t want to break them, but I really do need to go. Pleasure meeting you!”  
Multimouse lifted her cuffs, shocking Brainy out of his stupor.  
“I’m not letting _you_ go. You’re going to stay here until questioning tomorrow. And don’t bother trying to break out of those, no amount of human strength can break them, and any alien or meta powers are dampened by the cuffs. So, you sit there until the agent comes to get you and take you to your cell.”  
As Brainy and Supergirl turned to leave, they heard a loud clanging sound. They looked back to see the cuffs torn apart, and Multimouse standing with her jump rope in hand.  
“Now, are you going to let me leave through the front door, or am I going to have to smash the window?”  
Supergirl got into a fighting posture, while Brainy sent out the alert for backup. Sighing, Multimouse threw her rope out the window, smashing it, and latched it onto a nearby… something. No-one could actually see what it was, or how it got that far, but before they knew it, Multimouse was gone. Kara tried flying after her, but lost her quickly. While Brainy was telling everyone what happened, Marinette had fallen on her bed, barely able to give Mullo food before passing out.  
Tomorrow would be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex has to go, and Kelly and Marinette have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of last chapter:  
> Marinette accidentally flips Alex at the airport, and decides to become a new hero as Multimouse in the city.

When Marinette stumbled into the living room the next morning, she was surprised to see Alex and Kelly asleep on the couch. Despite her exhaustion from the last night, she had decided to get up at a reasonable time, hoping to make a better impression. The mouse miraculous hung from her neck, and Kaalki’s glasses were hanging off her collar, with Mullo, Kaalki and Tikki hiding in her pockets. She had decided to start wearing them if she was going to be using them regularly, so she had to make sure to have food for all three kwami on hand. She hadn’t been allowed to bring more food with her on the plane, so now she had to start from scratch. A small relief was that when a Kwami’s miraculous was in the Miracle Box, it provided them with all the energy they might need. Some still liked to eat, and Marinette would bring them their favourite foods, but her priority at the moment was the three who were active. Mullo liked berries, Kaalki ate sugar cubes and Tikki enjoyed cookies. There were other foods they ate, but those were the ones they would go to if given the option. It was hard to find actual cubed sugar, but Marinette had made a device to compress it into the right shape. Kaalki wouldn’t eat it as its grainy state, it just didn’t taste the same apparently. Still, she needed something temporary, so she’d have to make do. Looking in the kitchen, she saw all the ingredients to make basic cookies, and a few raspberries to go with. She decided to go with her recipe for raspberry lemon cookies, after getting the approval of the kwami of course. She managed to get some extra sugar in a container to be pressed later, and finished up, making sure to be as quiet as possible. About half an hour later, Alex and Kelly were waking up to the ding of an oven and the smell of fresh baked cookies. Backs aching from sleeping on the couch, they got up and stretched, exchanging good mornings. They finally turned to see Marinette in the kitchen, pulling some cookies out of the oven. Not turning around, she carefully placed the cookies on a cooling rack (which neither Alex or Kelly knew they had) and shut the oven.  
“Good morning, sorry if I woke you, I just wanted to bake this morning. I would offer you one, but they just got out of the oven, so you’ll have to wait I’m afraid.”  
Alex was about to get up to help Marinette, but she heard the tell-tale ringtone of the super friends theme song (made by Winn) coming from the other room. Alex said good morning and quickly ran to get it. That was the ringtone for when the DEO called her. And considering that she didn’t work there anymore, it had to be important.  
“Alex here, what’s going on?”  
Kara was the one who answered, but Alex could hear Brainy, J’onn and Lex in the background. That wasn’t good. If everyone was there, then something must have gone wrong.  
“So Brainy arrested someone who was running on the rooftops last night, and they broke the cuffs and jumped out the window. They were the super fancy ones too! Also, she used a _jump rope_ as a weapon, so there’s something weird going on, and we need to figure it out. I know you said that you were busy today, but is there any way you could make it? If not then that’s totally fine but we could really use your help right now.”  
Alex was already getting dressed to leave, making sure she had everything she might need.  
“I’m coming, let me finish getting ready and say goodbye to Kelly and Marinette. I feel bad that I’m ditching her, but at least Kelly will be there right? And besides, I’ll be back tonight, and we can hang out then. If we can clear all this up quickly, maybe you can meet her?”  
Kara gave a squeal of excitement, which Alex took as confirmation. Wrapping up the call, she walked outside to where Kelly and Marinette were chatting. They both turned to her, noting the fact she was dressed.  
“I’m so sorry guys, something came up and I have to go. I’ll try to be back as soon as possible, but if not, I’ll see you tonight. Also, Kara said she wanted to come over, so I’ll let you guys know what happens there. Sorry again, got to go, see you later!”  
Alex ran out, practically jumping down the stairs, not noticing the many pairs of eyes on her as she went.

~~<3~~

Marinette raised an eyebrow at Alex’s retreating figure.  
“Does she do that often, or is this just a once on thing?”  
Kelly got up to shut the door that Alex had left open in her haste.  
“It happens less often now, but if there’s an emergency she’ll run off. Sometimes she forgets that she doesn’t work there anymore. Also, for future reference, the phrase is ‘once _off’_.”  
Marinette nodded, making a mental note.  
“Thanks, I’m still not very good with English yet.”

The two worked together to clean up the kitchen, Kelly ignoring Marinette’s protests. Kelly decided that now was as good a time as ever to start talking about schools, so they could see what open days they had to book for.  
“So, I know summer holidays are in a few weeks, and Alex and I are willing to let you off until the next school year, but I was hoping we could start taking a look today? The plan was to walk around a bit after lunch and show you the schools that are nearby, as well as other local landmarks. What do you think?”  
Marinette hummed a bit, still cleaning as she spoke.  
“Oh, I’ve already sorted all that. I’m enrolled in an online school so I can stick with my current education and don’t have to worry about struggling with the language.”  
Kelly shot Marinette a look, one that said she knew Marinette was hiding something.  
“Well, won’t it be good to try anyway?” Kelly asked, “You could make some new friends, and it can help you learn English better.”  
Marinette was scrambling for excuses, but kept a cool head.  
“I don’t really have time for friends, I’ve got way too many commissions to be able to be making gifts,” Marinette reasoned. “Besides, I don’t think the teachers will let me hide at random parts of the day just because Paris is under attack again.”  
Kelly blanched. Attack? She’d have to check with Alex and Kara, but she hadn’t heard anything about any attacks. Still, she kept her voice deceptively calm as she spoke.  
“What attacks? I try to keep up to date on the news, but I haven’t heard anything about Paris being under attack.”  
Marinette snorted, and rolled her eyes.  
“You wouldn’t have, because our _totally not corrupt mayor_ put a ban on any info about akuma going outside of Paris.” She chuckled humorlessly, “Oh well, he can’t arrest me now! _Not like he could anyway._ ”  
With the last part muttered under Marinette’s breath, Kelly didn’t hear it, but instead focused on the fact that Paris was under attack from devils? And the Mayor was hiding it? Putting the last of the dishes away, Kelly dried her hands on her tea towel and turned to face Marinette.  
“I think we need to have a long talk about what’s happening in Paris.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in so long! _(The Final Caper cries in the corner)_ I've been busy, and this chapter will hopefully break my curse. I'd post two chapters of a fic, and then completly forget about it, or lose all motivation and/ or inspiration.  
> Hope you enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling extra salty today. I know Tom and Sabine ~~probably~~ wouldn't accuse Mari of working with Hawkmoth but eh, I felt like it.  
> Nothing against them as characters, but it was either this or have Chat go crazy and murder people, or do the classic tour trope. So Salt it is!  
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
